In A Moment
by lovelynemesis
Summary: The captain, the soldier and you are the assassin. The three of you were a unit, until death brings you together in different ways.
1. Chapter 1

Death.

You had never really thought about how you were going to die. Being an assassin, you were supposed to be the killer, not the one who was being killed.

You fell to your knees, gasping for air. Falling to your back in the wet grass, you stared at the night sky. You brought your hand up and wrapped it around the hilt of the black dagger that was protruding from your chest. If it wasn't you lying on the ground, you would be superbly impressed with the accuracy. It was a critical hit. You dropped your hand back down to the ground. You closed your eyes and made a mental checklist of your stats.

A lung was collapsed for sure. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult. You tasted the metallic tang of blood in your mouth. Internal bleeding, most likely from your esophagus being nicked. It was also worrying that you couldn't _feel_ the blade in your chest. The area around the wound was numb. Come to think of it, you couldn't feel your left arm at all. You told your brain to move it, but nothing happened. You slowly rolled your head to the side and opened your eyes. Well your arm was still there, so you had another bad sign to add to the list. Numb limbs.

You coughed and watched as bright red blood spewed out of your mouth. You turned your head back to look at the sky again. The stars were pretty tonight. The moon was also extremely bright. Looking back, that is probably how you were seen. The moonlight probably reflected off the various weapons strapped to your body as you ran through the field.

The blade had hit you out of nowhere. One minute you were running back to the safe house after completing your task at hand and the next minute, you were stopped dead in your tracks by an exploding pain in your chest. Ha, dead… poor choice of words.

You were fighting to keep your eyes open. You just wanted to slee… No! You needed something to think about…

Bucky.

You two had grown close over the last year. Too bad you hadn't gotten the chance to tell him how you felt. At first, you and he couldn't stand the sight of each other. After he had come out of cryo, he struggled with his emotions. You had always seemed to get the anger portion. One day, you both were running on the treadmills in the training room in comfortable silence. Then he had looked over at you and pressed the button to up his speed on the machine. Not to be outdone, you increased yours. This little competition went on until he finally called uncle and stepped off the belt. He had smiled at you, you returned it… a friendship had been formed.

You, Steve and Bucky had become a unit. The three of you could communicate on missions without even saying a word. The _captain_ , the _soldier_ and the _assassin_.

You blinked rapidly as you felt the tears forming in your eyes. Funny that you weren't crying over dying… you were crying because this was going to be hell for Bucky and Steve.

A sound broke the silence of the night. Your brain was getting hazy, but you were pretty sure that was helicopter blades. You slammed your eyes shut as a blinding spotlight landed on you. The darkness behind your eyelids was welcoming. You tried to pry them back open when you heard yelling, but found that you just didn't have the energy too.

"Cap! Is it her?" a man's voice shouted over the blades whooshing in the air.

You felt a hand on the side of your neck, pressing into the pulse point below your ear.

"Please be alive… please be alive," you heard Steve chanting above you. You desperately wanted to give him some indication that you were but your energy was fading fast.

You had been trained to not fear death; to welcome it. But in that moment, as you surrendered yourself to the darkness that was consuming you…

You didn't want to die.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_ …

The steady chimes of the many machines surrounding your hospital bed were the only sounds in the silent room. Bucky held your limp hand in his and watched the line on the heart monitor repeat its cycle with the beats. He placed his metal elbow on the bed and rested his forehead in his hand. He knew you would hate this. You would hate being in this bed, a machine helping you breathe. It had been confirmed by many neurologists that you have brain function. But for some reason, you wouldn't open your eyes.

Bucky lifted his head when he heard the sliding glass door open to your hospital room. Steve walked in and placed his hand on Bucky's shoulder, giving it a squeeze before going to the other side of the bed and sitting in a chair.

"Buck, you need to leave this room once and awhile," Steve said as he scooted his chair closer to the bed and leaned his elbows on it.

"I don't want her to be alone," Bucky sighed as he leaned back in his chair and looked across at Steve.

"There are like 50 people milling around this place at all times," Steve pointed to the glass walls that made up your room. "She wouldn't be alone."

"You know what I mean," Bucky rubbed his forehead. "She could wake up any minute."

They both fell silent, neither of them wanting to voice the other option. Steve looked up at the monitor and made a mental note of the stats before looking down at you. Pale, you looked so pale. The circles under your eyes were so dark that they looked like bruises. You had a small rash around the tape holding the breathing tube in your mouth.

"I have never thought of her as small," Steve said absentmindedly. "I have never once looked at her and thought that she was small or weak. But, as she lays here that is all I see. She looks so small."

Bucky nodded in agreement. He watched as Steve wrapped your hand in his, rubbing smalls circles. "You are in love with her too, aren't you?" Steve's eyes snapped up to meet his. "Yea, I know the feeling, pal."

Before Steve could answer, Tony walked in with Bruce trailing behind him. He looked between Steve and Bucky with a questioning look while Bruce wrote your vitals on the clipboard at the end of the bed. Bucky got up from his chair and moved to lean against the wall. Steve did the same, watching Bruce closely as he lifted the blanket that was covering you. Folding it to your hips, he raised the hospital gown to inspect the bandage around your chest.

"So, Banner and I are here to discuss a course of action fellas," Tony said clapping his hands in front of him. "It's been a week and sleeping beauty here has had enough rest. One of you Prince Charming's need to kiss her so we can wake her up."

Bruce chuckled lightly, but Steve and Bucky stared at him less than amused.

"Wow… tough crowd," Tony looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up. "In all seriousness, we have two options and neither of you are going to like them."

Bruce spoke up from his spot by the door, "The first option is taking her off the vent and see if she will breathe on her own."

"And if that doesn't work?" Bucky asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then we let nature take its course," Tony answered before Bruce could.

"What is the second option?" Steve asked, shaking his head at Tony.

Both Tony and Bruce seemed to get uncomfortable and sent nervous glances at each other. Bruce looked at Steve first and then at Bucky before he answered. "We inject her with the serum."

"No." Steve and Bucky said at the same time.

"Guys, hear him out," Tony tried to reason.

Steve looked over at Bucky to see him looking down at you, clenching his jaw. He looked at Bruce and nodded for him to continue.

"I have been working all week on a special chemical solution that I think would work well for her," Bruce pulled out the papers that he had stuffed in his back pocket and handed them to Steve. "It's not the same serum from the 1940's or even the same that we have seen in recent years."

Steve was reading through Banner's notes when Bucky spoke up, "What will it do?"

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., bring up the diagram please." Tony said to the A.I.

"Yes Mr. Stark," she said as a yellow computerized version of yourself appeared over your body. Bruce stepped up and pressed a few buttons on a handheld console.

Blue lines started to thread through the computerized veins, showing where the serum would go. "It will enhance her," Bruce began. "Her body, her abilities, her mind. She'll have the faster healing abilities and no Gamma or Vita rays will be involved so her personality will stay the same… she shouldn't turn green."

Bucky and Steve just stared at the computerized silhouette in front of them and Tony looked pained.

"It really is a tough crowd in here," Bruce shook his head with a laugh. "She will essentially be just like you Cap. Or that is the hope at least."

"Will her being an assassin affect anything?" Steve asked, looking at Tony. "Her past has her straddling the line between good or bad."

"She's not a bad person," Bucky was quick to defend you.

"I didn't say she was Buck," Steve handed the notes over to Bucky. "I'm just saying we have heard the rumors on what she was forced to do before Tony found her."

"She'll become a Super Soldier," Tony said, clicking a button on Bruce's handheld to vaporize the diagram.

"A Super Assassin," Bucky said quietly.

Everyone in the room fell silent and looked at one another. Bucky sat back down in his chair, placing his elbows on his knees and ran his fingers through his hair. Steve watched him, wondering what he was thinking.

Tony was the first to break the silence, "We need to be real here, it is the only thing that is going to save her. I'll give you time to think about that."

With that, him and Bruce exited the room.

Steve walked to the end of your bed and placed his hands on the slat, hanging his head. Normally he was the calm one under pressure, but this was making him want to scream out his frustration.

"Answer my question from earlier," Bucky said, getting up and moving to stand next to Steve.

He glanced over at Bucky before looking at you lie in that hospital bed. "Yea Bucky, I am." Steve placed his hand on Bucky's shoulder again, "Let's save her life."


End file.
